Bundle tier



2 Sheets-Sheet 1 H. s; LABOMBARDE BUNDLE TIER Filed July 25, 1923 Jam' 6, 1925.

E. M H m T MN w 5. m w M w m m S S vh Hlll -HW all MVHIZI l|`\|\l im., Il n L. j VL @si rr! HHH ...l I nu il ,i Td @www wv mx w, M m/Wm. s T v i M m Q i w ATTORNEY Jan, 6, 1925.

H. S. LABOMBARDE BUNDLE TIER Filed July 23, 1925 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 ATTORNEY Patented Jan. 6, 1925.

UNITED STATES HAROLD s. LAnoxnAann, om' insana, maw

PATENT OFFICE.

BUNDLE Tm.

appunti ma my sa, im. :erm le. 453,154.

s mvention relates to mechanism f or l securing together, in the form of bundles,

the product of other machines such as box making or envelope machines, in order to produce packages ready for shipment.

Most machines which convert blanks into l llat folded boxes deliver the folded boxes in overlapping condition upon a slowly travelling belt, the latter constituting a travelling platform from which an attendant gathers the boxes in bunches preliminary to preparing them for shipment or storage. Usually certain devices called counters are employed to effect a slight lateral displacement of each 25th or 50th fiat box in the row on the belt or platform, to facilitate the picking up, by the attendant, of bunches which are uniform as to. the numbers of the boxes in such bunches. It has been the custom for the atendant who picks up the bunches or groups to place them on racks which are movable to some convenient location in proximity to a tying or knot-ting machine, or where they can be tied by hand, to prepare the articles for the employee who puts the packages in shipping boxes. All of this requires several employees to attend to the output of one folding machine of the hi h-speed character now generally employ One of the objects of the present invention is to rovide a machine havingpa tier and including a conveyor for carrying groups of fiat articles to position to be operated upon by the tier, and means for reducing t e size of each group when it reaches position to be tied, whereby each group is so tied while under compression that no'relative slippage of the members of a group is likely to occur during subsequent handling.

Another object is to provide a machine of the character referred to wherein a single source of power operates both the tier and the conveyor which advances the oups to position to be tied, whereby any c ange of speed of movement of the conveyor will not al'cct the timing of the operation of: the

lel.- I l VAnother object is. to provide a machine having the travelling latform from which the attendant gathers e bunches or grou so located relatively to the'tier that said attendant, while remaining in onep'osition close to one side' of the platform, can transferithe bunches to the tiercarrier without having to move from that position. With the above-objectsin view, and other o b]ects as hereinafter explained, thejinvention consists in the construction and -combinations of parts substantially as hereinafter described and claimed.

Of the accompl ying dra :j J 0 lFigure 1 is a plan view of 51e fhin'e, including the travelling platform :high receives flat folded boxes in a row' of overlap ed boxes and from which an attendant gat ers the boxes in bunches and transfers them to the carrier of the'tier.

Figure 2 is a side elevation of the same. Figure 3 is a detail l side elevation of a portion of the machine,I on a larger scale than in Figure 2, and show the ressure mechanism in both full and otted ines, to

Figure 4 is a detail view illustrat tdevices which actuate the tripperlb Figure 5 is a detail sectional view of the grooved rails which support the carrier chains. Y

Figure 6 is a detail side elevation to illustrate the action of the tri ping devices.

Figure 7 is a view simi ar to Figure 3 but omiting some. of the details of said Figure Similar' reference characters designate similar arts in all of the views.

The rame of the machine includes side bars 12 supported by legs 13, a .portion of one of the side bars being inset, as at 12', for a reason explained hereinafter.

` A belt 14 which constitutes the travelling platform referred to, is mounted on drums 15 carried by shafts 16. the bearings for the the illustrate idle and operative positions there# blanks, is usually driven at a quite slow speedn- It serves as a table from which an attendant takes the boxes in bunches. Such a row of boxes is indicated at a in Fi ure l. At certain intervals boxes are lateral dislaced as indicated at a', this being e ected gy what is known as a counter in the art. The belt 14 is necessarily quite wide in order to accommodate the largest size of boxes which well known folding machines produce.

The mechanism which ties the bunches or bundles of boxes is mounted close to the edge o the belt opposite the inset bar section 12. Said inset ortion enables the attendant to stand qulte close to the belt so as to reach across it, after picking up a bunch, and place that bunch on the tier carrier without having to make any turn of the body or arms while doing so, thereby effecting a material saving in time. The frame of the machine must be somewhat wider than a person could readily reach across, in order to rovide bearings for the belt drum shafts. herefore the inset portion 12 is provided between the drums and opposite the tier mechanism which will now be described.

IChains 17 are mounted on s rockets 18 carried by shafts 19, 20. The s aft 20 eX- tends out :from the frame, through a tubular bracket 21 (Fig. 1) having a housing 22 at its end. Said shaft 20 has, within the housing, a gear 23 (Fi 2) driven by a worm 24 carried by a s aft 25, the latter having a pulley 26 driven by a belt 27 from the pulle 28 of the shaft 29 of a motor 30 supporte by a casting or bracket 31.

The shaft v29 of the motor has another pulley 32 which, through belt 33, actuates the tier mechanism one member of which is indicated at 34 (Fig. 2). used and but conventionally illustrated may 'be of any well known or preferred type, and

as the specilic structure thereof forms no part of the present invention, illustration and description of its details are unnecessary. Such tiers customarily operate but once for each release of a clutch drive connection, such release being eected by a trip member. A feature of the present inl vention however resides in the fact that a single source of power, as the motor 30, operates both the tier and the bundle-conveyor chains 17 through the two belts 27, 33, just described. The reason for this is to avoid liability of any change of speed of travel of the conveyor chains 17 affecting the timin of operation of the tier.

Each c ain has secured toit, at spaced intervals, a series of upright members which, for convenience of description, are herein referred to as jaws 35. The jaws of the two chains are side by side and the front walls of one pair coact with the rear walls of the As the tiermagica next pair in forming a pocket for receiving between said walls a bunch of flat articles as indicated at a in Figure 2. The up er ortions of the rear walls are preferably evelled or inclined somewhat as indicated, so that the s aces or pockets for the bunches will be be] -mouthed to facilitate the placing of the bunches therein. This provision also facilitates the tiltin of the tied bundles onto the inclined tabl shown at the right in Figure 2, at the conclusion of the operation as hereinafter described.

Each jaw member has a rearwardly extending arm 36, the arms of each two menibers of a pair serving as a ioor to support the fiat articles edgewise and prevent contact with the chains 17 which are underneath said arms. A lever 37, (Figs. 2, 4 and 6) is pivoted at 38 to one ot the jaws of each pair and is provided with a weight 39 to normally hold the lever in the position shown by full lines in Fi re 4, a stop pin 40 being provided to limit the oscillations permitted as indicated b the full anddotted line positions of said ligure. rllhe tip end of the lever is bent down at 41 to provide what is hereinafter referred to as a hook to engage a member to start the tier as will be explained.

The up'per stretches of the chains 17 travel in longitudinally ooved rails 42, the walls of saidgrooves ig. 5) having shoulders or ribs so that the links of the chains, which run" below said ribs, can not tilt endwise while in the grooves. The jaws 35 are secured! to blocks 44 which, in turn, are secured to properly spaced chain links.

An upright plate 45 is suitably supported bythe frame of the machine between one edge oi the belt 14 (Fig. 1) and the conveyor chains 17, said plate being below the plane of the upper stretches of said chains (Fig. 2). The -attendantfgjwho picks up bunches of articles frompthg-jbelt 14 joggles each bunch against the plate 45 to bring the edges of all of the articles in the bunch into alinement, and then when depositing the bunch in the space between the avvs as shown by comparing Figures 1 an 2, the end of the bunch farthest from her is placed against a plate 46 which serves as a stop to determine the proper position for the bunch so that the string to be later tied around the bunch will be at its mid-length. Since the machine is to be used for bundlin diderent sizes of articles such as paper oxes, the stop er guide plate 46 is adjustably mounted on a pair of outwardly extending supports 46.

Each bunch of articles is conveyed along' lll@ Referring to Figures 1, 2, 3 and 7, especally the latter two, a rock shaft 47 is mounted in the frame of the machine and basa inion 48 engaged and operated by a verti y movable raclr 49,A said rack being reciprocated by the mechanism of the tier through a connecting link 50. As the tier mechanism is of a well known type, it 1s suicient for present pu to state that when the clutch of the tier driving mechanisn'i is released, a movingpart of the lar tier acts through the link4 50 to quie y lower the rack just before the tier mfember 34 sw to carry string h around the bunch lviiilch has beenl brought to position.

Pivotally mounted on the rock shaft 47 is an arm 51 having bear' which two rods 52 are mounted ti sli e,j"saiSi two rog ca in a ressurev ate- 53.= rings coillei'l agi-omg the rodi; are confines between the slide bearings for said rods and the i heads 55 of the rods. '1" htly secured to the rock shaft adjacent tor t e loosely mounted aim;51 is a short arm 56 from which a rigid rod .57 extends, said rod being connected by p a link 58 with the back of the pressure plate. The arm 51'has a short end-L59 extending downwardly, and a fixed'stop is located to coact with said short end 59 in limiting actuation of -the arm 51 to the position shown b full lines in Figure 7 and-dotted lines in Figure 3. In Figure 2 theparts just de scribed are shown in their upper position because they would not show clearly if low-v ered. As a matter of fact, said parts are only in that position when operating to exert pressure on a bunch. When the rack 49 descends and rocks the shaft 47, the swinging lo' up of the rod 57 acts through link 58 to swing the parts described u from the position shown by full lines in igure 7, carrying theplate 53 up .between the two j aws of a pair so that said plate contacts with the front article of the bunch which is being advanced by the jaws. The arm 51 can not swing any further, owing to the stop 60, but a little further rotation of the rock shaft causes the plate 53 tomove farther toward the dotted line position indicated. in Figure 7 to compress the bunch. 1NAt the same time the jaws which are behind the bunch are ad vancin and this also causes compression since t e plate 53 is arrestingthe frontportion of the bunch. It may be stated ere that the rack 49 moves down and then up again very quick] so that the pressure plate swings back to t e full line position indicated in Figure 3 as soon as the tying operation, which itself is very quickly performed.

' is completed. f

A stop screw 61 in a bracket 62 below the lower end of the rack 49 serves to limit the downward movement of the rack so that the amount of compressive thrust which can be given to the plate 53 after the arm 51 has compression-which it is'best to impart v will contact with said heel and elevate the hook end of the .lever as indicated by vdotted lines in Figure 3 into the path of movement of a roller pin 66 projecting from the side of one of the sprockets 18 carried by the driven *shaft 20. Since'tlie -shaft 20 is lnot so positively driven that its rotation can not be stopped, the hook lever is able to attain this result. If there is any tendency of the hook lever to stick in its upper position, the descent of the arm 51 u n it 2will lowe/izz it so as to release the in 66. y 'L The operationj' of the string-carryin and knottin mechanism of the tier, an

ractica y simultaneous operation ofthe unch fpresser, are controlled by the presence o \the bunches between the jaws, but without re uiriiig the articles themselves to contact wit an thing to effect such operation. When a nch is deposited between the jaws its weight depresses the lever 37 from the normal position shown by Fi re the 4 and portions of Figure 2, tothe position shown by Figure 6, the resistance to such movement afforded by the weight 39 being verysli ht. The lower edges of the articles in the unch come to rest on the arms 36 of 'the jaws and do not contact with the chains and are therefore not liable. to be injured in any way, as by notching or tearing. The depression of the lever 37 carries its hook end 41 down to position where it-will, as the conveyor chains continue to travel in the direction of the arrow (Fig. 6), cause the tier to operate by releasing the clutch thereof as presently described. If

there is no bunch in the ocket or space between the jaws, there w l be no o eration of the tier because the lever 37 wil remain elevated..

A weight -67 (Fig. 6) mounted on a pivot 68 4has its up r end formed as a lug 69 in the path o movement of the hook end with the screw 72 it strikes with sucient force to rock the shaft and efect release of the clutch of the tier mechanism, and the member 34 of the latter swings around and cooperates with the other members of the tier mechanism to carr the string around the bunch which is un er compression and knot the string in the usual manne-r of the tier.

When the hook. 63 is employed and the conveyor is stopped duringtying, the hook 41 occupies the position indicate by dotted lines in Ei vre ,4 and will have passed the lug evve' htedlever 67 (Fig. V6) so that the lattervwill have swung back and eected release .of the tying mechanism as just described."Y f

At the'id liveryend of the bundle conveyor is a. table 73, preferably inclined as indicated inyFigure .2. It is. slotted as at 74 Fig. 1) to r(permit the jaws to pass down 4t ough ,-sajil ff-slots when the jaws follow the movenie fjjthefchains around the' s rockets 1 :driven shaft 20. When t e jaws be thiscircular movement, their arms 36 nllessarilygriseaandf lift the tied bundle as shownfjfattlierightinFigure 2 above and ontol the tablet'73,tlie jaws and their arms 36 then continuing their movement down through the slots .of the table, leaving the bundle free to be either picked up from the table or to slide off therefrom into any suitable receptacle.

To enable an attendant to gather bunches of the articles a from the slowly travelling platform 14 without undue lateral displacement of some of the articles, I rovide a gravity roll (or a spring depresse roll) 75 in osition to bear on theA row of articles as t e latter approach position to be athered. I do not confine myself to the ocation of said roll in the position indicated in Figures 1 and 2. It may be nearer the outer end of the row than illustrated. In any case, the roll is near enough to the place where the attendant stands to enable it to ap ly resistance to displacement of the articles when the attendant gathers a bunch b a movement of the hand or hands in a direction opposite to that in which the row of articles is moving.

As the operations of the different parts of the machine have been explained in connection with the descriptions of the details thereof, further reference to the operation of the machine as a whole is unnecessary.

Having now described my invention, I claim:

. 1. A machine of the character described comprising a tier, means for automatically moving a group of flat articles while under slight compression to position to be operated upon by the tier, means for automatically applying pressure to said group during the tying operation, without interfering with iaaiea further movement of the'articles in the same direction, and tripping mechanism for the tier in position to be caused to act by a group approaching position to be tied. e

2. A machine of the character described comprising a frame having an inset portion, a travelling platform in close proximity to said inset portion, and a bunch conveyor and tier in close proximity to the opposite side of the said platform.

3. In a machine of the character described, a conveyor provided with means for supporting groups of articles, a tier for operating successively on groups presented to it by the conveyor, a motor'having a shaft provided with two pulleys, a belt mounted on each pulley, connections for driving the conveyor by means of one of said belts, and connections for operating the tier by means of the other of said belts.

4. The combination with mechanism for conninggroups of flat articles, of a conveyor comprising chains having jaw members provided with front and rear` walls with rearwardly extending arms. n,

v 5. The combination with mechanism for confining groups of fiat articles, of a conveyor comprising chains having jaw members provided with front and rear walls, said walls being formed to provide bellmouthed spaces between them.

6. The combination with mechanism for confining groups of lat articles, of a conveyor comprising chains having jaw inembers provided with arms extending rearwardly over the chains, and means connected with each jaw member to control the opera tion of the confining mechanism.

7. A machine of the character described comprising a tier, chains havingspaced jaws for carr ing groups of lat articles to position to operated upon by the tier, and tripping devices connected with the chains for controlling the operation of the tier.

8. A machine of the character described comprising a tier, an endless conveyor having bunch holders, a lever pivoted to each holder and having a hook, and means adapted to be engaged by said hook to effect operation of the tier.

9. A machine of the character described comprising a tier, an endless conveyor having bunch holders, a hook lever pivoted to each holder and weighted to cause the lever to normally occupy a position to be shifted bythe presence of a bunch in the holder, and means adapted to be engaged by the hook of the lever when shifted to e'ect operation of the tier.

10. A machine of the character described comprising a tier, chains having spaced jaws for carrying groups of articles to position to be operated upon by the tier, grooved rails for supporting the upper stretches of the chains, and. means for preventing end- Wise tilting 'of the jaws While travelling along the grooves of the rails.

11. A machine of the character described comprising a tier, grooved rails and chains movable therealong, the grooves of the rails having ribs projecting inwardly above the links of the chains, and bunch holding jaws secured to the chains.

` 12. A machine of the character described comprising a tier, 'a conveyor for carrying groups of flat articles to position to be operated upon by the tier, a row-supporting belt extending along one side of the conveyor, and an upright plate between the belt and conveyor to provide a surface against which an attendant may aline the articles in a group taken from the belt.

13. In a machine having a tier and an endless series of holders for conveying groups of articles to be tied, a rock shaft having a pinion, a reciprocatoryv rack engaging said pinion, an arm pivotally mounted on said shaft, a pair of rods slidingly mounted in said arm and carrying a pressure plate, and a second arm secured to the rock shaft and having connections with said pressure plate to move the latter toward the front of each group in a holder approaching the tier.-

14. In a machine having a tier and an endless series of holders for conveying groups of articles to be tied, a movable pressure plate, means for moving said' plate toward the front of each group in a holder approaching the tier, and means for adjustingI the amount of pressure imparted by said plate. j

15. In a machine having a tier and an endless series of holders for conveying groups i -having connections with said pressure plate to move the latter toward the front of each group in a holder approaching the tier, and an adjustable stop opposite an end of the rack to limit the pressure-imparting movement of the rock shaft and the parts carried thereby.

16. The combination with a machine having a tier and a conveyor comprising anendless series of bunch holders havin rearwardly extending arms, for supporting the bunchesof a table for receiving tied bunches, said table being slotted to permit said arms to pass upwardly and tilt the tied bunches onto said table. j

. 17. The combination with a' travelling platform for a row of overlyingflat articles, of means adjacent said platform for tying up bunches "of articles transferred thereto from the platform, and means for resisting displacement of articles to be left 'm the row when a bunch is gathered therefrom.

In testimony whereof I have affixed my signature. f

HAROLD S. LABOMBARDE. 

